Ruth Brown (January 12/January 30, 1928 – November 17, 2006) was an American singer-songwriter and actress also known as "Queen of R&B" noted for bringing a pop music style to R&B music in a series of hit songs for Atlantic Records in the 1950s, such as "So Long", "Teardrops from My Eyes" and "(Mama) He Treats Your Daughter Mean". For these contributions, Atlantic became known as "The house that Ruth built" (alluding to the popular nickname for Old Yankee Stadium).Following a resurgence that began in the mid-1970s and peaked in the 1980s, Brown used her influence to press for musicians' rights regarding royalties and contracts, which led to the founding of the Rhythm and Blues Foundation. Her performances in the Broadway musical Black and Blue earned Brown a Tony Award, and the original cast recording won a Grammy Award.
January 12, 1928, Portsmouth, Virginia, United States
Died
November 17, 2006, Henderson, Nevada, United States
Place Of Birth
Portsmouth, Virginia, USA
Profession
Actress, Soundtrack
Education
I. C. Norcom High School
Spouse
Yvonne Brown
Children
Ronnie McPhatter
Parents
Arthur Brown
Siblings
Basil Brown
Awards
Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, Tony Award for Best Lead Actress in a Musical, Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Performance, Female, Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical, Rhythm and Blues Foundation Pioneer Award, Mama He Treats Your Daughter Mean, Oh What A Dream, Luck...
Albums
A Good Day for the Blues, Blues on Broadway
Nominations
Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album, Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album, Mama He Treats Your Daughter Mean, Oh What A Dream, Lucky Lips
Movies
Hairspray, True Identity, The Ladies Sing the Blues, B.B. King: Blues Summit, Bonnie Raitt: Road Tested, Shake, Rattle and Rock!, Sure Fire, Dennis Brown: Live at Montreux, Dennis Brown: Live at Reggae Canfest, Rhythm and Blues at the Apollo Theatre, Hallelujah, The Archive: Vol. 3: Jazz, Dinah Wash...
TV Shows
Checking In, Hello, Larry
Star Sign
Capricorn
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Fact
1
Following her death, she was interred at Roosevelt Memorial Park in Chesapeake City, Virginia.
2
Was scheduled to film the crime drama Honeydripper (2007) with Danny Glover at the time of her death.
3
Best known in films for her role as Motormouth Maybelle in John Waters' musical comedy Hairspray (1988).
4
A small-town Southern girl, she first started singing in churches and segregated USO shows.
5
In the 1960s, after three disastrous marriages, her career flagged and she was forced to support herself and her two sons as a teacher's aide, a bus driver and a housekeeper.
6
Her fight for musicians' rights and royalties in 1987 led to the founding of the Rhythm and Blues Foundation. She was inducted as a Pioneer Award recipient in its first year, 1989. In 1993, she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as "The Queen Mother of the Blues".
7
During the 1960s, she drifted away from her career to become a housewife and mother, and only returned to music in 1975 at the urging of Redd Foxx, followed by a series of film and television outings.
8
Willis Conover, a local Washington disc jockey, caught her act and recommended her to Atlantic Records, but Ruth was unable to audition for the company due to a serious car accident that resulted in a nine-month hospital visit. In 1948, however, the record talent caught her act in a club and convinced her to switch from ballads to rhythm and blues.
9
Blanche Calloway, Cab Calloway's sister, and also a bandleader, arranged a gig for Ruth at a Washington nightclub called Crystal Caverns and soon became her manager.
10
Some of her better known hits: "So Long" (1949); "Teardrops from My Eyes" (1950) (one of her biggest that earned her the name "Miss Rhythm"), "I'll Wait for You" (1951); "I Know" (1951); "5-10-15 Hours" (1953); "(Mama) He Treats Your Daughter Mean" (1953); "Oh What a Dream" (1954); "Mambo Baby" (1954); and "Don't Deceive Me" (1960).
She had a Top 25 hit on the US Pop charts in 1957 - "Lucky Lips" on Atlantic Records.
14
Inducted into the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame in 1992 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993.
15
Won Broadway's 1989 Tony Award as Best Actress (Musical) for "Black and Blue", a performance she recreated in the television version of the same title, Great Performances: Black and Blue (1993).
$1.1 Million
